Notschool
research brief

The notschool project is a research
project aimed at young people who have been out of conventional
education for an extended period of time. (The published
eligibility criteria give full details) The needs of the 100
notschool students in this pilot vary. There are teenage mums,
phobics, school refusers, those in childrens homes and those who
are profoundly ill; in fact a whole host of reasons.

Using a qualitative research model
we hope to establish what works and is achievable with this wide
range of participants, in order to reinvigorate their desire to
learn and to reengage them in the learning process. In most cases
this will be access to post 16 education of some kind.

The project has two broadly similar
but quite distinct models; one in Essex and one in Scotland. The
major distinction between the two models is that in Scotland,
schools retain closer links with the young person. Essex is likely
to support a wider range of young people by the sheer fact that it
has a much larger number of participants , ie 84 as opposed to 16.
In both pilots all formal education such as the home tutoring
service, or part time education has not been successful or has had
limited success.

The pedagogical techniques and
practices involved in using ICT in this context, in themselves
producing measurable learning gains, will be established and
embedded in the notschool philosophy over the span of the project,
and will themselves provide a useful model for online teaching and
learning with disaffected young people.

The required outcome of this
research project will be a blueprint of a notschool model. This
will be available to local authorities and to other organisations
both here, in Europe and indeed world wide.

Methodology

The methodology used is proactive
ethnography . Ethnographic research has been widely used in social
anthropology to gain greater insight into the lives of others by
involving the researcher in entering the world of those to be
studied. Ethnographic research can be considered on a continuum
from the total immersion documented above to becoming part of the
group to be studied for a short period on a regular
basis.

All participants will themselves be
encouraged and indeed expected to be action researchers. Adults
who develop dialogue with the pupils over the time of this project
will be able to enter the 'world of the pupil'. The tutors will
actively encourage the end result - learning - to be achieved.
Tutors and mentors will take the role of 'action researchers' as
they encourage, document and facilitate the pupils in their
learning.

Usually ethnographic research
produces large text descriptions and outlines of the social
situation of the area in which the study takes place and the
activities which are carried out in that setting. Conversations,
often in the form of informal 'chat', can be recorded or
remembered and these are transcribed at a later date forming the
main part of the ethnographic record. These recordings and
descriptions could be accompanied by video footage, still images
and work examples. When combined with the text description, these
capture a sense of the real world of the pupil, rather than some
idealised version of events. These then form the basis of research
diaries.

This is an intensive activity.
Although this approach does allow great insights to be achieved it
does result in a quantity of data which needs to be codified and
examined for meaningful patterns to emerge.

Most of the research data will
either be collected from within Think or collated from within
Think, which is the software used by the project and where a
record of the learning gains will take place in both a qualitative
and quantitative format. The use of both qualitative and
quantitative data will ensure triangulation will take place. The
use of quantitative data will ensure that issues highlighted can
be identified and thus persuaded using the in depth and detailed
approach that qualitative data collection ensures.

The main tools which will be used
are:

1 Critical
events research and contact diaries

A requirement for all tutors to keep
a research diary, highlighting critical events. They will be
expected to provide a brief weekly report via Think.

Tutors will also be expected to
document in their diaries contact with participants to enable an
examination of styles of effective support which may signify
and/or demonstrate learning gains. We expect there to be social,
psychological cultural and educational aspects. For example there
may be evidence of interaction with tutors, mentors or the
curriculum team where contact has previously been very limited.
There may be some quite tangible evidence where accreditation via
an external body has been gained

A requirement for all mentors to
keep a research diary and provide a report as indicated above,
initially for every 10 hours spent on line with their notschool
partners.

A requirement for the curriculum
team to provide research data about their involvement with tutors
and the young people involved in the project

2 Software
Tools

Structured discussion and debate
within Think, using the existing tools, eg brainstorm, debate etc.
This is likely to involve all key participants, ie tutors,
mentors, curriculum managers and the 100 young people in the
project, both separately and in overlapping groups.

eg:

Collection of materials within Think
, such as student debate and dialogue, work done, articles written
etc

3
Participant observation

Although the software encourages
asynchronous communication tutors and mentors observations and
comments will be a significant part of the research . Tutors and
mentors will interact with the pupils and the fruits of these
interactions (what worked and what didn't) will form a substantial
element in the research.

It should be noted that in this
research project input from pupils will also be credible research
data. Questions to pupils on, "what worked for you?" will be asked
and pupils answers recorded. These responses will be considered in
the light of learning gains.

4
Quantitative data

Think captures and logs the amount
of activity by individuals and by the number of "hits " that
specific articles and areas take, providing some measurable data
about use.

Think is available for all schools
and educational institutions to use, so that collection of
research data from within the software has a particular
significance, and provides for future scalability

Further data will be collected in
electronic format using the notschool web site where
questionnaires, which will be used to highlight in depth areas for
quantitative research, can be placed from time to time as the need
arises. Individual Learning Plans will be in electronic format as
the project progresses, and these will provide valuable data about
pupil progression.

As the project develops the need for
in depth case studies may emerge. This will be addressed if the
need becomes apparent.